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ago

Sayuh-GOH/əˈɡoʊ/UK/əˈɡəʊ/

3 meanings of ago

Practice

  1. 1
    before nowpostp
    At a point in the past, a stated amount of time before the present moment.

    She moved into the apartment three years ago and never left.

    We finished the last of the supplies a few hours ago.

    Note

    It began as a past participle, Middle English agon, meaning "gone", so ten years ago once meant "ten years gone."

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Ago derives from the Middle English past participle agon, meaning gone or passed. en.wiktionary.org
    • Historically, ten years ago can be understood literally as ten years gone. gutenberg.org
  2. 2
    passed byadjectivearchaic
    Gone by; departed or passed away.
    Note

    The older adjective behind the everyday time word survives only in archaic and dialectal English. It mostly survives in the longer form agone, in poetic phrases such as years agone and days agone.

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • The everyday time word derives from an older participial form meaning gone or passed away. gutenberg.org
    • The phrase years agone occurs in verse. gutenberg.org
    • The phrase days agone occurs in poetry. gutenberg.org

Less common meaning

  1. 3
    adjectivearchaic
    Nearly gone, or dead; at the point of death or already dead.

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Origin

From Middle English ago, agon ("passed"), the past participle of agon ("to depart, pass"), from Old English āgān ("to go away, pass away, come to pass"). This built on Proto-Germanic roots meaning "out" and "to go," and is essentially a- plus gone. It is cognate with German ergehen ("to come to pass").

Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts